Paris-based artist with West Michigan connection to display at the Muskegon Museum of Art

Frederic ReineckeCaroline Lee, The Shoulder (L'Epaule), 2006-7 Stainless steel. The piece is one of 24 metal sculptures that will be on display starting on Sept. 6 for "Songs in Steel and Other Dreams: The Sculpture of Caroline Lee."

MUSKEGON, MI – A Paris-based metal sculptor with West
Michigan ties will display her work at the Muskegon Museum of Art starting on
Sept. 6.

"Songs in Steel and Other Dreams: The Sculpture of Caroline
Lee" will display 24 pieces by the artist, done in stainless steel, aluminum
and bronze, according to Mary Esther Lee, who guest curated the show and is Caroline's
sister-in-law.

Caroline, a Chicago native who has spent her entire career in Paris, has competed in international competitions, Lee said, and has received commissions for a number public sculptures.

The works on display vary in size, subject matter and technique and
span the length of Caroline's career, Lee said.

Some of the pieces, like "Projectile,"
which is part of the museum's Centennial Collection, were machine-tooled, while
others were casted or welded.

Lee said some of the pieces are quite large, while others fit on the
tabletops and some sculptures are more abstract than others.

"She's done a broad variety of things," Lee said.

But despite the breadth of her work, Caroline's aim remained
the same, she said.

"What she's trying to
do is express something about the meaning of the subject," Lee said. "It's not
just the look of it. It's the meaning of it."

Caroline's sculptures are also known for their movement, which Lee described as a "thrusting, reaching out, soaring quality."

The show will also display 20 sketches and technical
drawings that give viewers an insight into how Caroline built her sculptures,
Lee said.

Although the drawings might not look exactly like the
finished pieces, Lee said they come "from the same sort of mental place as the
sculpture (Caroline) actually did."

Lee also said that the artist has has a connection to the area.

"She grew up in Chicago, but the family has had a house on the lakeshore north of Holland since 1912," Lee said. "So she grew up spending her summers at the lake."

Lee said Caroline, who received a degree in painting and
drawing from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1957, ended up in Paris after a Fullbright grant took her there in 1958. During her visit, she was introduced to metal
sculpture and "fell in love" with it, Lee said.

"After a year of Fullbright, she got a second Fullbright grant and she never came back," Lee said.

But Caroline's summers near Lake Michigan have stuck with
her throughout the years.

"Even though I am a wanderer from Paris, my heart returns to
Michigan to be re-nourished, to survive, to persevere," Caroline said in a
press release about the exhibit.

Lee said Caroline does not often hold shows in the United
States, so local art aficionados are getting the chance to view work that they
might not otherwise see.

"These pieces have never been assembled in the same place
before," Lee said.

The exhibition will open with a public reception on Sept. 6
at 5:30 p.m. The artist will also give a talk about her work at 7 p.m.

The
event will have light refreshments and visitors can meet Caroline and discuss
her work. The reception is free and open to the public.

Otherwise, the public can view the show during regular
museum hours.

The museum will be open on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 4:30 p.m.

Admission to the museum is $7 for adults, $5 for students
with a valid I.D., and free for members and children who are 17 years old and
younger.